Roblox: Difference between revisions

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'''''Roblox''''' is a [[massively multiplayer online]] [[Game creation system|game creation]] platform that allows users to design their own games and play a wide variety of different types of games created by the developer or other users. Sometimes compared to ''[[Minecraft]]'', ''Roblox'' is a website and app that hosts [[social network game|social network]] virtual world games constructed of [[Lego]]-like virtual 3D partsblocks.<ref name="cnet">{{cite news|url=http://news.cnet.com/8301-19882_3-20070969-250/roblox-a-virtual-world-of-Lego-like-blocks/ |title=Roblox: A virtual world of Lego-like blocks |publisher=[[CNET]] |accessdate=February 29, 2012|date = June 14, 2011|last = Needleman|first = Rafe}}</ref>

Founder and CEO David Baszucki started testing the first demos in 2004 under the name ''DynaBlocks'' , a portmanteau of the words "dynamic blocks". .<ref name="Hughes_Inc">{{cite news|last1=Neil C.|first1=Hughes|title=How This User-Generated Video Game Is Leading The Way With Innovation and VR|url=http://www.inc.com/neil-c-hughes/how-this-user-generated-video-game-is-leading-the-way-with-innovation-and-vr.html|agency=Inc Magazine|date=July 15, 2016}}</ref> In 2005, it was renamed ''Roblox'' and became available for [[personal computer|PCs]].<ref name="teen"/> The platform was officially released in 2006 by the Roblox Corporation.<ref name="DynaBlocks">{{cite web|last1=Fennimore|first1=Jack|title=Roblox: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know|url=http://heavy.com/games/2017/07/roblox-youtube-free-download-corporation-baszucki-cassel-nerfmodder/|website=Heavy|accessdate=30 July 2017|date=12 July 2017}}</ref> {{As of |2016}}, ''Roblox'' has 30 million active monthly users.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.mercurynews.com/2016/10/20/kid-gaming-company-roblox-builds-a-following/|title = Roblox: Is unusual virtual playground the next Minecraft?|date = October 20, 2016|publisher = The Mercury News|last = Wolverton|first = Troy}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://venturebeat.com/2016/12/20/at-10-roblox-surpasses-30-million-monthly-users-and-300-million-hours-of-engagement/|title = At 10, Roblox surpasses 30 million monthly users and 300 million hours of engagement|date = December 20, 2016|publisher = Venture Beat|last = Takahashi|first = Dean}}</ref>

== Gameplay ==

{{advert section|date=November 2017}}

[[File:Roblox Studio 2017.png|Editing using ''Roblox Studio 2017''|thumb|236x236px|alt=A car on a road in ''Roblox Studio 2013'']]

''Roblox'' is a sandbox game which allows players to create their very own games using its proprietary engine, ''Roblox Studio.'' Games and assets for games are built by using 3D"bricks", partssimilar to those of [[Lego|lego bricks]]. Players can use the programming language [[Lua (programming language)|Lua]] to dynamically change the environment of the game and program their own games.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://kidslike.info/roblox_using_roblox_as_an_educational_programming_language|title=Roblox as an educational program language|date=December 9, 2008|accessdate=January 24, 2009|publisher=Kids Like}}</ref> Plugins can also be developed with Lua to be used in ''Roblox Studio''.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/roblox-lego-meets-webkinz-equals-fun-games/|title=Roblox - A Cool Lego-Based Free Virtual World for Kids|last=McDowell|first=Guy|date=June 29, 2009|accessdate=October 11, 2009|publisher=makeuseof.com}}</ref>

Users are able to advertise and sponsor their own game on the website by bidding. Users are also able to create gamepasses, which can be used to give consumers perks for buying the gamepass, etc.; "Developer Products", which can be purchased unlimited times, similar to the likes of [[microtransaction]]s and badges, to reward players for doing a certain task. A percentage of the revenue from gamepasses and developer products is given to ''Roblox''.

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In March 2007, ''Roblox'' became compliant with [[COPPA]], with the addition of safe chat, a change that limited users under the age of thirteen to communicating by selecting predefined messages from a menu.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://kidscreen.com/2015/06/23/superawesome-and-roblox-join-forces-on-kid-safe-advertising/#|title=SuperAwesome and Roblox join forces on kid-safe advertising|first=Jeremy|last=Dickson|date=June 23, 2015|publisher=kidscreen}}</ref> In August 2007, ''Roblox'' added the Builders Club, a premium membership, and applied server improvements.<ref>{{cite book |last=LaRouche |first=Brandon |date=March 31, 2012 |title=Basic ROBLOX Lua Programming|publisher=Double Trouble Studio |page=237 |isbn=9780985451301}}</ref>

In 2011, ''Roblox'' a feature named Terrain was added. This allowed developers and players to generate thousands of voxels made up of blocks, wedges, and corers, and edit them with different materials

and shapes, able to explode the terrain and break them into pieces, and break them with tools. However, this type of Terrain has been discontinued and replaced with Smooth Terrain.

In December 2011, ''Roblox'' also held their first ''Hack Week'', an annual event where ''Roblox'' developers work on innovative outside-the-box ideas for new developments to present to the company.<ref>{{cite news|title=Hackathons move beyond Silicon Valley|url=http://www.sfgate.com/technology/article/Hackathons-move-beyond-Silicon-Valley-4085718.php|publisher=SFGate|accessdate=February 9, 2017|date = December 2, 2012|last = Milian|first = Mark}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Lua language helps kids create software|url=http://www.sfgate.com/technology/article/Lua-language-helps-kids-create-software-3828132.php|publisher=SFGate|accessdate=February 9, 2017|date = August 31, 2012|last = Chaykowski|first = Kathleen}}</ref>

On April 1, 2012, the ''Roblox'' site was hacked by a player and took control of it, displaying vulgar messages in "banners" on the site and disabling the site's filter, unbanning accounts,

taking control of staff member accounts, changing catalog item names and putting catalog items on sale. Many rumors arised that this was an April Fools joke by the staff members.

However, this was false, and shortly after the hack, staff member John Shedletsky and Matt Dusek reverted the site to before the hack happened, removing the new catalog items and banners.

On December 11, 2012, ''Roblox'' released an [[iOS]] version of the game.<ref>{{cite news|url = https://venturebeat.com/2012/12/12/roblox-mobile-ipad-iphone-now/|title = Roblox goes mobile in time for the holidays|publisher = VentureBeat|date = December 12, 2012|last = Grubb|first = Jeffrey}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.maclife.com/article/news/roblox_brings_millions_user_created_games_ios |title=ROBLOX Brings Millions of User Created Games to iOS |date=December 12, 2012 |website=Mac{{!}}Life |last=Clark |first=Matt}}</ref> In an interview with [[Massively (blog)|Massively]], CEO David Baszucki stated he also wanted the game to be available on the digital stores of "Android, Windows, Steam, Mac, Chrome, [and] Amazon..."<ref>{{cite news|url = http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/12/26/mmo-family-roblox-ceo-david-baszucki-talks-mobile-app-plans-fo|title = MMO Family: Roblox CEO David Baszucki talks mobile app, plans for the future|last = Bryan|first = Karen|publisher = Massively|date = December 26, 2012}}</ref>

On May 31, 2015, a feature named Smooth Terrain was added, increasing the graphical fidelity of the terrain and changing the physics engine from a block-oriented style to a smoother and more realistic style.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Roblox user-generated world moves from blocky terrain to smooth 3D|url = https://venturebeat.com/2015/06/01/roblox-user-generated-world-moves-from-blocky-to-smooth-3d-terrain/|website = VentureBeat|accessdate = June 3, 2015}}</ref> On November 20, 2015, ''Roblox'' was launched on Xbox One, with an initial selection of 15 games chosen by ''Roblox'' staff.<ref name="TNW_Woods">{{cite news|last1=Woods|first1=Ben|title=Roblox’s community-made games are coming to Xbox One|url=http://thenextweb.com/apps/2015/09/24/robloxs-community-made-games-are-coming-to-xbox-one/|agency=The Next Web|date=September 24, 2015}}</ref><ref name="VB_Grubb">{{cite news|last1=Grubb|first1=Jeff|title=Roblox comes to Xbox One, joins Minecraft in the growing player-made content space on consoles|url=https://venturebeat.com/2015/09/24/roblox-comes-to-xbox-one/|agency=VentureBeat|date=September 24, 2015}}</ref> New ''Roblox'' games for this console will have to go through an approval process, and are subject to the [[Entertainment Software Ratings Board]] standards.<ref name="Grubb_VBXBox">{{cite news|last1=Grubb|first1=Jeff|title=Roblox launches on Xbox One with 15 player-created games — watch us play them|url=https://venturebeat.com/2016/01/27/roblox-launches-on-xbox-one-with-15-player-created-games-watch-us-play-them/|agency=VentureBeat|date=January 27, 2016}}</ref><ref name="TTPArrish">{{cite news|last1=Parrish|first1=Robin|title=Roblox Comes to Xbox One In December|url=http://www.techtimes.com/articles/88114/20150924/roblox-comes-xbox-one-december.htm|agency=Tech Times|date=September 25, 2015}}</ref>

On Janurary 1, 2016, a year after the release of Smooth Terrain, the 2011 terrain rig and 2014 terrain rig was discontinued, making Smooth Terrain the only terrain rig available to this day.

In April 2016, ''Roblox'' launched ''Roblox VR'' for [[Oculus Rift]]. At the time of release, more than ten million games were available in 3-D.<ref>{{cite news |last=Gaudiosi |first=John |date=April 15, 2016 |title=This Company Just Introduced 20 Million People to Oculus Rift |url=http://fortune.com/2016/04/15/roblox-vr-oculus-rift/ |magazine=Fortune |access-date=December 13, 2016}}</ref> Also by this time, Roblox had 30 million monthly active users, and a peak of 900,000 concurrent users.<ref name="Takahashi_10Years">{{cite news|last1=Takahasi|first1=Dean|title=At 10, Roblox surpasses 30 million monthly users and 300 million hours of engagement|url=https://venturebeat.com/2016/12/20/at-10-roblox-surpasses-30-million-monthly-users-and-300-million-hours-of-engagement/|agency=VentureBeat|date=December 20, 2016}}</ref> Around the same time period, the safe chat feature was removed and replaced by a system based on a [[whitelist]] with a set of acceptable words for users under 13 years old and on a "black list" for other users. This new system allows users under the age of 13 to create content on the website, which they were not able to do previously.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.esafety.gov.au/esafety-information/games-apps-and-social-networking/roblox |title= Roblox|website=Australian Office of the Children's eSafety Commissioner |access-date=December 13, 2016}}</ref>